Loving Coach
by CoopsGotSwag
Summary: Scotty Smalls's cousin is now living with him, and all his cousing wants to do is play baseball. How will the Sandlot boys take to Smalls's cousin? Something tells me, not very likely.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I have to give thanks to a friend of mine who practically begged me to write this, but I soon enjoyed writing it. Not my usual style, but hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sandlot, and Jackie belongs to my friend.**

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**Chapter 1**

Scotty searched his room for his baseball cap, but couldn't' find it. Next door, he could hear the baseball hit the wall, which was being tossed by his cousin Jackie. She had moved in with them about a week before school ended. She was living with their grandfather, but he had died of a heart attack last month. Jackie's parents had died in a car accident when she was still young, so they only family she had left were Scotty and his mom.

"Scotty, can you please stop throwing that ball against the wall?" his mom asked. Scotty looked at his mom confused.

"Sorry aunty. That was me." Jackie called from her room. Mom sighed.

"Jackie, we don't play ball inside the house." She said.

"Sorry." Jackie replied, and Mom turned back to Scotty.

"Sorry Scotty." She said. He nodded, and she returned to the kitchen. He went back to searching for his hat.

"What are you looking for?" Jackie asked, appearing at his door.

"My baseball hat." He answered. Jackie walked over to his bureau, and took off a hat on the mirror.

"This it?" she asked. Scotty smiled at her in thanks, taking it from her.

"Thanks." He said, and grabbed the glove off his bed.

"Going to play baseball?" Jackie called after him.

"Yeah." He answered.

"Can I come?" she asked. Scotty looked at her apologetically. The guys had a strict rule about girls. They would definitely pummel him for bringing her.

"Sorry. It's a guy only thing." He said, and ran out of the room. Jackie sighed and went to her room.

When Scotty got to the Sandlot the guys had already started. Benny had just hit a ball towards Timmy. Squints was the first one to see Scotty though.

"It's about time you showed up." He said.

"Sorry." Scotty responded.

"What took you so long Smalls?" Benny called from home base.

"I couldn't find my hat." He said. Ham shook his head, and went back down into a squat.

"You're killing me Smalls." He said. Scotty, or Smalls, just waved in reply. He heard Benny call out to someone, but didn't pay attention. He was too busy putting his glove on.

"Hey, yo, Smalls!" Benny shouted. Smalls looked up to find the baseball soaring at him. Smalls covered his face to keep the ball from giving him another black eye. But the ball never hit him, and he didn't hear the guys laughing at him either. He uncovered his face to see what had happened.

"You should really watch what's going on Scotty." Jackie said. She pulled the baseball out of her hat, and handed it to him.

"What are you doing here?" Smalls asked.

"Hey Smalls. What did we say about bringing girls here?" Ham said, the rest of the boys following him towards the girl.

"Sorry. This is my cousin. I told her not to come." Small tried to explain.

"Why tell her at all?" Squints shouted.

"Yeah, yeah! Girls never listen." Yeah-Yeah added. Jackie rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Smalls apologized.

"You're fine Smalls." Benny said, and turned to Jackie. "Sorry, but this is a closed practice." He explained, and she sighed.

"No, I'm sorry. I just wanted to watch my cousin play baseball. Didn't know I would be such a nuisance." She said, and began to walk away. Smalls felt bad for her. She has only been here for a week, and everyone treated her like she had the plague or something. He knew what she was going through.

"Jackie wait!" he called. Jackie turned around and crossed her arms. Smalls turned back to the team. "Come on guys. She's my cousin. Just one practice." He tried to persuade.

"Smalls, she's a girl!" Ham pointed out.

"Yeah, so is your mom." Benny retorted.

"But, she's my mom." Ham tried to shoot back.

"So?" Benny asked.

"Please guys? She just wants to watch." Smalls begged.

"Yeah, it's not like she's playing." Timmy said.

"Yeah, not playing." Tommy, or Repeat, repeated.

"Plus, she is kind of cute." Burtrub added. They all looked at him curiously. "What? I said kind of." He defended.

"It's just one game." Benny says. The guys sigh and finally give in. "Base up." Benny ordered, and walked over to Jackie.

"What? Not done picking on me?" she quipped. He smiled and shook his head.

"No. The guys agreed to let you watch." He said. Jackie pressed a hand against her chest and gapped.

"What? To have the honor!" she said dramatically. Benny rolled his eyes. "Thank you so much!" She added, but Benny ignored her and ran back to home base. Jackie smirked and walked towards the dugout.

"You owe me Smalls." Benny said while he passed him. Smalls smiled in reply.

So they played, like they usually did, totally ignoring Jackie. But she didn't mind. She watched them intensely. She was amazed at how great they were, and they didn't even know it. She had been studying baseball most of her life, and knew that they were good. Especially Benny, but they all had their weak points.

When they were done, Jackie ran up to Smalls.

"You guys are great." She beamed.

"Um, thanks." He replied.

"But you guys can be even better." She added. Snickers and laughs sounded behind them.

"Yeah, yeah. Says the girl!" Yeah-Yeah laughed.

"Yeah, what would a girl know about baseball?" Ham asked. Jackie put her hand on her hip.

"I know you favor your right side. Your left is weak and that's why you can't hit more homeruns." Jackie pointed out. Ham sneered.

"What a bunch of bull." He laughed.

"No, you're bull Ham." Benny said. "She's right." He added.

"She is?" Ham asked confused.

"Yeah." Benny then looked at her confused. "But how did you know that?" he asked. Jackie shrugged.

"My grandpa made me watch baseball all the time with him. It was his life. He taught me everything he knew." She explained.

"Well what do you know? The chick knows baseball." Bertrub said.

"Yeah, and I also know how to help you." She added.

"Can you?" Benny asked in a challenging tone. She nodded.

"But that would mean having a girl on your team."

"No way, man. This is a chick free zone." Squints said.

"Yeah, forget it." Ham said. Jackie shrugged.

"Your loss." She said, and walked away. Smalls started to follow, but turned back to the guys.

"She really does know what she's talking about." He said, and looked at the boys for a few seconds before turning around and following his cousin.

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**Hope that wasn't bad for a first chapter. Review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to those of you who have taken a liking to this story. Now to continue.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Sandlot. Only this plot.**

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The next morning, Smalls got up and got ready to go to practice. He opened the front door surprised to find Benny standing there. Usually Benny would wait for him by the corner. He hasn't come up to his front door since the first summer that they met.

"Hey Smalls." Benny said. "Is your cousin home?" he asked. Smalls nodded and turned back into the house.

"Jackie! Someone's at the door for you!" he called. A few seconds later Jackie walked to the door. Her short cropped black hair was tucked inside a Yankees baseball cap, and she wore a green T with some jeans. She smiled amusedly when she saw Benny.

"Well if it isn't the old regretful. What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about your offer yesterday." He said. She crossed her arms and looked him over.

"What about it?" she asked.

"Is it still standing?" He asked. Jackie sighed.

"Only if your serious." She replied. Benny nodded, but she was still unsure. Jackie looked at Smalls, who smiled at her. With another sigh she turned back to Benny. "Okay. I'll help." She said.

While they walked to the Sandlot Jackie explained a few drill she wanted the boys to go through. Benny thought it was a good idea, and could already imagine the Sandlot being the best team out there. It was their dream.

"Hey guys. There's going to be a few changes." Benny announced. The boys turned around to find Jackie. Their jaws dropped as she waved at them.

"What is she doing here?" Ham asked.

"Helping us." Benny answered.

"Yeah, right. How can a girl help us?" Squints asked unbelieving.

"Yeah, Yeah, aint no way." Yeah-Yeah said.

"Just base up blockheads." Benny ordered.

The boys sighed and groaned as they went to their positions. Smalls looked up at Jackie, who looked disappointed in the guys' reaction.

"You'll do fine." Smalls reassured her. She only nodded, and he ran to Left Center.

"Alright. Teams yours." Benny said. Jackie sighed and walked up to the mound to talk to DeNunez. As he saw her walk towards him he sighed in agitation and looked over at Ham. Ham rolled his eyes and put his mask on.

"How accurate is your pitching?" Jackie asked DeNunez.

"I'm the best." He answered. She smiled at him.

"Nice to know you're confident, but that's not what I asked you." She said. "How is your accuracy?" she asked.

"It's fine." He replied hotly. She nodded.

"Okay. Throw a fast ball down the middle." She ordered. DeNunez looked at her annoyed, but she only nodded at Ham. He sighed and she stood back as DeNunez wound up, and threw the ball. The ball went right down the middle.

"Now a fast ball to the upper right corner of the strike zone." She ordered. He pitched it and it was just an inch off. Jackie looked as Ham threw the ball back looking annoyed. "Ham, come over here." She ordered.

"Man, we got no time for this! Let's just play." He complained.

"Just do what she says." Benny said. Ham glared at him as he walked over to Jackie.

"I know that you know that the pitcher and catcher are a tag team. They work together. What I want to know is your signals." She said.

"Signals?" Ham asked. Jackie nodded.

"Yeah, your hand signals. The ones you use to tell the pitcher what to throw." She said, confused on why they didn't understand.

"No, no. I call the shots on the pitches." DeNunez said. Jackie shook her head.

"Wrong!" she shouted. "The pitcher isn't by the batters. The Catcher calls the pitches. He can see what you're up against." She explained.

"Yeah, I call the shots." Ham grinned.

"But it's a unanimous decision. The Pitcher and Catcher agree on the pitch. Otherwise, you lose it." Jackie reminded them.

"Yeah, so don't go getting a big head." DeNunez pushed Ham's shoulder.

"We'll go over hand signals later. Right now go through the plays." Jackie said.

Jackie watched as they practiced as usual. They were doing great. She just had to work on their offence. They were great on the outfield, it's when their up to bat she was worried about. She'll have to come up with a way to help them on that.

After practice Jackie had assigned Ham and DeNunez to come up with Hand signals together. They had to come to practice ready to show her.

"Hey, Jackie." Burtrub called.

"What's up?" Jackie asked, smiling at him.

"I just wanted you to know that I think you helping us is great." He said. Her smile brightened.

"Thanks. I'm glad you think so." He smiled back at her.

"Hey Jackie! Let's go, or we'll be late for dinner." Smalls called.

"Bye Burtrub." Jackie called as she ran over to Benny and smalls.

"Bye." He called back, looking at her dreamily.

Jackie, Smalls, and Benny all walked home together talking about practice. Then Smalls started talking about Jackie's yelling at the TV when she watched baseball, and that got her to blush.

"Yeah, well, at least I knew who the Babe was." She retorted. Benny laughed at that.

"Hey Scotty, Jackie come wash up." Smalls' mom called.

"I guess we'll see you Benny." Smalls called. They started to walk away, but Benny stopped Jackie.

"Thank you again, Jackie." He said. She smiled at him teasingly.

"Keep thanking me, and I'll start to think you owe me." She teased. He smiled at her, and she waved goodbye to him as she walked away. Benny shook his head and began walking home.

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**Thanks for reading. Don't forget to review. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Time for another chapter to this lovely story.**

**Thank you for those who have reviewed. I really appreciate it.**

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**Chapter 3**

Jackie woke up earlier than usual and lied in bed. She sighed and rolled over on her side, a tear rolling down her cheek. She wiped it quickly awake, not allowing herself to cry. She wasn't going to let the dream win today.

She got up and grabbed her things for the shower. She heard Smalls mumbling in his sleep in his room. She locked the door behind her and turned the shower on. It took the water a few minutes to turn warm so she took the time to brush through her tangled mess of hair.

After she got dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans, she put her short wet hair up in a ponytail. By this time her aunt was awake and making breakfast.

"Morning Jackie." She called a gentle smile on her lips.

"Good morning." She replied.

"Have a good sleep?" she asked. Jackie nodded lying. "That's great. Breakfast?" she asked. Jackie sat down at the table, as her aunt set a plate of food in front of her.

"Morning girls." Bill called, fixing his tie.

"Morning Uncle." Jackie replied.

"Morning, Honey. Breakfast?" Jackie's aunt asked. Bill sat next to Jackie and smiled at his wife as she set down a plate for him.

"Scotty!" she called. "Scotty, wake up, and come eat your breakfast." She shouted.

"Should I go wake him up?" Jackie asked.

"Would you please?" her aunt smiled. Jackie got up and went to wake her cousin.

"Bill." Bill looked up at his wife. "Jackie's birthday is next weekend." She said.

"Is it?" he asked, and she nodded.

"She's been through so much. You think we can throw her a birthday party?" she asked.

"Why not throw her a surprise birthday party?" he suggested.

"That would be perfect!" she squeaked and kissed his cheek.

"Smalls! We're late!" Jackie shouted in Small's ear. Hearing that he was late made adrenaline race up his veins, sending him flailing off the bed. Smalls woke up to a laughing Jackie, and a sore butt.

"Jackie," He whined, but she only laughed in response.

"Come on, your mom made breakfast." She said, and walked out of the room.

With a giant sigh Smalls got up and dressed for the day. He walked into the kitchen and was immediately swarmed by his mother's good morning kisses.

"Mom," he whined, and his mom giggled. "Go eat your breakfast Scotty." She ordered, returning to the stove.

"Well I better get going to work." Bill said, standing up. Smalls took a seat next to Jackie, taking a piece of toast. "We will finish our discussion when I get home." Bill said to his wife.

"Yes, Honey." She replied. Bill kissed her cheek and waved at the ids as he left.

"So? What is the plan for today?" Mom asked. "Another day for baseball?" she asked already knowing.

"You bet." Smalls answered, quickly eating.

"What about you Jackie?" Mom asked.

"The same." She answered, drinking the rest of her orange juice.

"Baseball?"

"Yup." Jackie said with a smile.

"Come on Jackie, we're goin to be late." Smalls said frantically. The two got up from the table and rushed to get their things.

"Bye Aunty!" Jackie called.

"See you later mom." Smalls called too. Both of them ran out the door. Smalls began to run, Jackie following and they met up with Benny on the corner.

"Hey Smalls, change of plans." Benny said disappointedly.

"What is it?" Smalls asked.

"We need to meet up in town, come on I'll explain when we get there." Benny said, ushering the two in the opposite direction.

Benny wouldn't tell either of them what was wrong or what was going on. Jackie could see the tenseness in Benny, and decided to distract him a little.

"How old are you Benny?" she asked. Benny looked at her curiously, but answered anyway.

"I'm 16." He answered.

"The oldest on the team?" she asked. Benny shook his head.

"Burtrub is 17." He said. Jackie nodded and thought of another question to ask, but was interrupted.

"Jackie turns 16 next week." Smalls announced. Jackie's heart stuttered to a halt.

"Really?" Benny asked, sounding interested.

"Yup!" Smalls said happily.

"I'm still a year older." Benny teased. Although Jackie didn't like the mention of her birthday, she didn't' mind having it distract Benny.

"There he is." Ham's voice boomed. Benny, Smalls, and Jackie jogged up to meet up with them.

"What took you so long?" Squints complained.

"Yeah, Yeah Benny man, we've been dying of boredom." Yeah-Yeah added.

"Sorry, Smalls slept in." Jackie joked.

"You're killing me Smalls!" Hams said, and Jackie couldn't help a little laugh.

"Hey Benny, why did you drag us out here anyway?" DeNunez asked.

"Right." Benny said, but before he could explain what was going on, he was interrupted by a bunch of giggling behind him.

"Hi, Benny." A girl said. She was had straight long, brown colored hair, and looked to be Jackie's age. A girl stood next to her with long, curly blond hair.

"Hi Martha, Bridget." Benny replied to the girls.

"What are you boys doing over here?" the blond, Bridget asked.

"Official team business." Benny answered. Martha and Bridget smiled at Benny, knowing how dedicated and gifted he is in baseball. That wasn't the only reason they had developed a crush on him. He was also a gentleman.

"Could we come watch a game sometime?" Martha asked, batting her eyelashes. Benny scratched his shoulder unsure what to say.

"Sure, if you can find out where it is." Squints laughed, making the team laugh including Jackie. That caught the girls' attention.

"What is she doing here?" Bridget sneered glaring at Jackie.

"Who?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, who?" Repeat repeated.

"Her." Bridget pointed at Jackie. Jackie slunk back behind DeNunez.

"Jackie?" Smalls asked.

"Is that her name?" Martha asked.

"We all assumed it was a boy name." Bridget teased.

"Why would you assume that?" Benny asked.

"Because she looked like a boy." Both girls laughed. Jackie looked down embarrassed.

"Just look at her. The clothes, the hair, the way she talks, there is nothing girlish about her." Bridget said. Jackie unconsciously picked at her clothing and her short hair.

"What are you talking about?" Smalls asked a little angered by the comment.

"Yeah, Jackie might not look like a girl, but she's cool in my book." DeNunez said. Jackie looked up shocked.

"Now get out of here, we have business to take care of." Squints said, waving off the girls.

"Yeah, Yeah, Scram!" Yeah-Yeah said. Both girls scoffed, and walked away.

"Don't pay them any attention Jackie." Smalls said, turning towards his cousin.

"Yeah, they're just jealous." Timmy said.

"Just jealous." Repeat put in.

"Jealous of what?" Jackie asked not believing them for one second. She knew she didn't fit in with those other girls, she never did. So what did have that made them so jealous.

"That we let you hang out with us." Burtrub stated. "No other girl as before." He added. Jackie still didn't feel any better.

"Listen Jackie," Benny said. "You have one thing that those girls don't." he said. Jackie looked up at him curiously. "The love for baseball." He said, putting his right fist over his heart. Jackie smiled at this.

"Those girls can never understand it. Baseball is what bonds this team together, including you." Benny confirmed, making Jackie smile again.

"Yeah, so forget about those brads." Ham interrupted. "Why are we here instead of the Sandlot?" he asked.

"Right." Benny said, going back to business. "Boys we have been challenged to a championship game." He announced. Immediately the guys started to chatter amongst themselves.

"Hey guys!" Benny shouted over them and they all went silent. "This is big for us. The winning team gets $500 cash award. Do you know what type of baseball equipment we can get from that?" Benny said his eyes lighting up.

"You guys can get your own team shirts." Jackie said, getting just as excited.

"Yes!" Benny said. "Not only that, but we have never backed down from a challenge." He added.

"Who challenged us?" Burtrub asked.

"Phillip and his team." Benny answered. The guys automatically went into game mode. Jackie just nodded, not knowing who Philip was.

"Those blockheads?" Squints laughed.

"We'll crush 'em!" Ham said, popping his knuckles.

"Sure we will." Benny said determined. "Especially with her help." He then pulled Jackie next to him. He smiled at her and pattered on the back. "Right Coach?" he asked. Jackie looked at him unsure.

"Yeah, we can do this!"

"Come on Coach, you got this!"

"Let's do this Coach Jackie.!"

The team erupted in cheers as Jackie smiled at them, accepting the position and the new nickname.

"So, what now Coach?" Smalls asked. Jackie looked over the boys; her new team.

"I say," she smiled. "Let's go play some baseball!"

The boys cheered and ran off towards the Sandlot, ready for practice.

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**So Jackie is now Coach of the Sandlot boys. What will this mean for the team? **

**Thanks for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and give me your honest opinion. **

**Thank you. **


	4. Dear Readers

**Dear Readers, **

**I am sorry to inform you that the author of this story is no longer available. The author has passed away by a car accident. **

**But I promise you that the story will continue, as I have the notebook he wrote it in, I am glad to say it is finished, but I will upload the rest of the story on his account. **

**In memory of him, I encourage you to continue and enjoy this story. Of what I have read, it is an amazing journey. So thank you for sticking with him all this time and let him rest in peace. **

**~ A Friend. **


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